Brad Bell: Ridge Will Return To THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL; Ronn Moss Last Airs Sept. 14

Brad Bell, executive producer and head writer of THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, tells TV Guide Magazine that Ronn Moss will air for the final time as Ridge Forrester on September 14. But we have not seen the last of the character.

Right now I can only tell you this: Ridge will not be dead or presumed dead. He will just not be in the picture. I don't want to do a presumed death because I don't want the story that follows to be all about Ridge. This will be a Brooke story. Ridge is a pivotal part of the show and he will be back in a matter of time...and probably not all that much time. I will continue writing for the character. I'm looking at this in two phases, really. There will be a period of time without Ridge, which is where some new, interesting avenues for Brooke will come into play. But at some point it will be necessary for Ridge to return to the show. Who will be playing the role at that point remains to be seen.

I might go a little younger but we'll be true to the age range that's been established. I do have people in mind in terms of a recast — some very interesting people.

If B&B ultimately recasts the character of Ridge, who would you chose? Share your thoughts in our Comments section below.

10 comments:

Seems a little weird to be discussing the recast before he's even stopped airing--and something tells me a lot of this may shake out once Moss's pride (which has to sting when you're offered a severe pay cut) and pocketbook have time to settle into a new normal--but I don't think the role is unrecastable. But they need to be very, very careful. They need to allow time (which Bell appears to be willing to do), cast a talented and glamorous actor (note I said a talented one. Too many soaps have tried to cast lookalikes or models as recasts and failed miserably) and chemistry test the hell out of the recast. They need to make sure that the new actor has chemistry with KKL, Hunter Tylo, his kids, and his parents. So many times recasts bomb because the actors seems like a poor fit with the show at large, likely because they were cast alongside their next romantic partner only. I'm not a huge B&BB fan, but since Ridge and Moss are beloved, I hope they can work this out (a smaller pacycheck is better than no paycheck, and you can always do what Anthony Geary did, leverage that paycut into a new contract that allows you generous annual vacations instead of high pay), but if not, I advise them to go slow and then full-steam ahead with a recast. Just do it right.

I'd suggest Trevor St. John. Not only will he fit the age range, talented, beautiful & experienced recasting major role before, but I think he could give the charachter of Ridge a new life, & the show as a whole could benefit a more intelligent mode.

Bell is just answering the questions he's being asked but he doesn't seem too broken up about this turn of events. Maybe he knows Moss won't really stay gone very long. Or he really is excited about a different actor playing this part.

Trevor St. John would be an excellent choice, but I don't think he's interested in returning to soaps full-time, and I think if he ever was, it would probably be to GENERAL HOSPITAL. But he has a lot of the qualities that would make a great Ridge. I don't know if Reckell is glamorous enough, which is sort of a must for B&B. The reason his Bo Brady worked so well was that he really embodied that blue collar hero's charm. These are really interesting choices, though. Hmmm...

I like the direction Brad decided to take with B&B minus RM as Ridge. Smart move. No reason to kill off a legacy character ... just move him off screen with a mid-life crisis or whatever. Interesting and adds potential for tons of drama. The door is open for RM to return or a recast if he opts not to. Glad the character will not be killed off and also GLAD that KKL's Brooke will finally get a SL with a new love interest. Gonna be fun to see this play out. All this should make B&B interesting for some time to come!